Brompton Cemetery

Brompton Cemetery, consecrated by the Bishop of London in June 1840, is one of Britain’s oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. The cemetery is classified as Grade I on the Historical Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of England and all buildings in the cemetery are Grade II *.

The 39-acre (16-hectare) site is located between Old Brompton and Fulham Roads, on the western edge of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, then a distant suburb and now a populous and diverse community in the heart of London.

Many charities work to preserve this extraordinary site as a model of historic cemetery with an active role in modern society. By helping to restore and maintain the buildings, monuments and landscape of the cemetery and encourage their full use by those who sympathize with the importance, beauty, heritage and fragility of this important cemetery. We offer visitors guided tours on Sunday afternoons, group visits at any time of the week and a varied program of events and activities.

Brompton Cemetery covers 39 acres (16 hectares) within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in West London. The walled site has gates and lodges on Old Brompton Road to the north, and Fulham Road to the south. The tracks of the District Line run to the west, and Finborough and Ifield Roads to the east.

It is managed by The Royal Parks, a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.

The Cemetery opens at 07.00 daily. Between October and February the Cemetery closes at 16.00, moving in steps to 20.00 in the summer.

The gothic splendour of Brompton Cemetery has been irresistible to many film-makers. The elaborate Victorian gravestones and buildings have been the backdrop for period dramas, romantic comedies and thrillers.

The chapel on the Fulham Road side of the cemetery was used in GoldenEye (1995), Pierce Brosnan’s first Bond movie. The building stands in for the church in St Petersburg where Natalya, played by Izabella Scorupco, hides from the evil organisation, Janus. (The scenes inside the church were filmed at St Sofia’s Greek Cathedral in Bayswater).

The colonnades above the catacombs feature in the spoof-Bond film, Johnny English (2003). This was where Rowan Atkinson, playing a secret agent character first developed for Barclaycard adverts, disrupts a funeral service in the mistaken belief that the crown jewels are hidden in the coffin.

There is a good view of the headstones in two films from the 1990s. Helena Bonham Carter, as Kate Croy, tends her mother’s grave here in The Wings of the Dove (1997). This adaptation of a Henry James novel by Ian Softley also starred Linus Roache and Charlotte Rampling. (See St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens for more The Wings of the Dove locations). Eileen Atkins, as Phil, also visited a grave at Brompton in the bitter-sweet romance, Jack & Sarah (1995) with Richard E Grant, Imogen Stubbs and Samantha Mathis.

The cemetery was also used in Mark Peploe’s 1991 art house chiller, Afraid Of The Dark. This tells the story of a boy, facing surgery to prevent blindness, who wanders his quiet neighbourhood convinced that a stalker is targeting blind women. Another film, made 20 years earlier at Brompton, was the starting point for a major movie partnership. SWALK (sometimes titled Melody) is about two ten-year-olds who want to get married. It was David Puttman’s first feature film as producer and Alan Parker’s first script.

Look out for the Brompton scenes in Stormbreaker (2006), the first film adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider novels. Someone close to Alex is shot dead by Gregorovich (Damien Lewis), the most dangerous assassin in the world. In the book, the burial is at Brompton and the movie’s funeral scenes were filmed here too. See also Hyde Park, the location for a dramatic chase sequence involving Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) and the entire Household Guards on horseback.

If you would like to film or photograph in Brompton Cemetery, you may require a permit.